The Andes Mountains

The ranges of the Andes Mountains, about 5,500 miles (8,900 km) long and second only to the Himalayas in average elevation, constitute a formidable and continuous barrier, with many summits exceeding 20,000 feet (6,100 metres). The Venezuelan Andes—the northernmost range of the system—run parallel to the Caribbean Sea coast in Venezuela west of Caracas, before turning to the southwest and entering Colombia. In Colombia the Andes—which trend generally to the north and south—form three distinct ranges: the Cordilleras Oriental, Central, and Occidental. The valley of the Magdalena River, between the Oriental and the Central ranges, and the valley of the Cauca River, between the Central and the Occidental ranges, are huge rift valleys formed by faulting rather than by erosion. An aerial view of the Andes in Colombia shows, within relatively short distances, a succession of hot lowlands interspersed with high ranges with snowcapped peaks.

The Cauca River in the Andes, ColombiaCarl Frank/Photo Researchers

In Ecuador the Andes form two parallel cordilleras, one facing the Pacific and the other descending abruptly eastward toward the Amazon basin, crowned by towering peaks. Between the ranges lies a series of high basins. Three cordilleras run through Peru and are known by Peruvians as the Eastern Cordillera; the Central, or Blanca (“White”), Cordillera, named for the glaciated summit of Mount Huascarán, the country’s highest peak, which rises to 22,025 feet (6,713 metres); and the Western, or Negra (“Black”), Cordillera, which has no snowcapped summits.

South of Lima, Peru, and extending through western Bolivia, the Andes branch into two distinct ranges. Between them lies the Altiplano, a vast complex of high plateaus between about 12,000 and 15,000 feet (3,700 and 4,600 metres) in elevation and as much as 125 miles (200 km) wide. The Altiplano forms a maze of depressions, hills, and vast plains without equivalent except in Tibet. Water accumulates in closed basins to form marshes and lakes, the largest of which is Lake Titicaca on the border of Peru and Bolivia. That central region of the Andes has been dissected by several rivers, all of which have cut spectacular gorges down the eastern slopes.

Farther to the south—along the border between Chile and Argentina—the Andes form a single but lofty chain with many of the system’s highest peaks, including Mount Aconcagua, which, at 22,831 feet (6,959 metres), is the highest point on the continent and in the Western Hemisphere; south of Aconcagua, elevations gradually diminish. In southern Chile part of the cordillera descends beneath the sea, forming innumerable islands with steep slopes. The Andes have been deeply carved by glaciers, particularly in the south. Ice masses still occupy some 1,900 square miles (4,900 square km), constituting a huge ice cap with long terminal tongues running into piedmont lakes or into the sea.

The Andes are studded with numerous volcanoes that are part of the Circum-Pacific volcanic chain, often called the Ring of Fire. Earthquakes are frequent. Almost every major city has been devastated at least once by earthquake, even along the coastal plains, where clear signs of recent vertical movement are visible.

The plateaus

To the north and east, the Guiana and Brazilian highlands consist of ancient crystalline rocks greatly worn through prolonged erosion. The Guiana Highlands are mostly below elevations of 1,000 feet (300 metres), with small rises separated by marshy depressions. Occasional dome-shaped granitic inselbergs (steep-sided residual hills)—some 2,000 feet (600 metres) in elevation—surmount the landscape. The southern edge rises abruptly to a series of mountain chains and high tablelands (tepuis), in which the highest summit is Mount Roraima (9,094 feet [2,772 metres]).

Covering an area of about 580,000 square miles (1,500,000 square km), the Brazilian Highlands (also called the Brazilian Plateau) rise to an average elevation of about 3,000 feet (900 metres) and are crowned by numerous sierras (ranges). Included in that region is Bandeira Peak (9,482 feet [2,890 metres]), one of the highest points in Brazil. The São Francisco River, draining a large basin to the east, has cut deeply into the highlands. In the north the highlands slope gently to the sea, but in the east they drop abruptly, as much as 2,600 feet (800 metres) within a few miles. Skirting their southern edge, the Serra do Mar has summits of more than 7,000 feet (2,100 metres) in elevation. The sea has partly invaded the lower sections of the original coastal ranges and formed Guanabara Bay, which includes the harbour of Rio de Janeiro. Nearby are such steep-sided rocky peaks as Sugar Loaf (Portuguese: Pão de Açucar; 1,296 feet [395 metres]) and Mount Corcovado (2,310 feet [704 metres]), which rise dramatically from the sea.

In the far south, Patagoniaconstitutes a series of vast tablelands that rise, terracelike, from the Atlantic to the Andes and are covered with rounded pebbles and crumbling sandstones. Geologically recent volcanic eruptions have spread sheets of basaltic lava over large parts of southern Patagonia and have dotted the sedimentary plateaus with volcanic cones.

The lowlands

The Orinoco River basin is nearly coextensive with the Llanos. It lies between the Venezuelan Andes and the Guiana Highlands and is covered with alluvia brought down by the Andean torrents.

Orinoco River near Ciudad Guayana, Venez.Carl Purcell

The Amazonian depression, the largest river basin in the world, forms an enormous region, bounded by the Andes to the west, the Guiana Highlands to the north, and the Brazilian Highlands to the south. The ancient platform of Precambrian rock underlying the depression is covered with deep layers of alluvial sand and clay, so that it forms an immense plain of low undulations, the general eastward incline being extremely slight. The river port of Iquitos, Peru, which is about 2,500 miles (4,000 km) from the Atlantic Ocean, is at an elevation of only 384 feet (117 metres), while Manaus, Brazil, far downstream in the heart of the basin, has an elevation of 144 feet (44 metres).

The basin of the Paraguay River, between the Bolivian Andes in the west and the Brazilian Highlands in the east, consists of a series of alluvial plains drained by a complex network of rivers interspersed with marshes. To the east, the marshes are called the Pantanal. They are only a few hundred feet above sea level. Annual flooding during the rainy season (about November through March) causes an immense swamp to form. The extensive plains west of the river, called the Gran Chaco, generally are arid.

The Pampas of Argentina, covering almost 300,000 square miles (777,000 square km), consist of a thick accumulation of loose sediments brought down from the Andes. Those deposits, some 1,000 feet (300 metres) deep at Buenos Aires and even deeper in other places, have completely buried the ancient features of the land. The landscape seems perfectly level, although it actually rises imperceptibly toward the west—from near sea level at Buenos Aires to 2,320 feet (707 metres) at Mendoza. Some ranges, such as Córdoba and San Luis, are conspicuous features on the otherwise flat plains.

Drainage

Rivers

Drainage is notably affected by the physical dissymmetry of the continent. The major basins lie east of the Andes, and the main rivers flow to the Atlantic Ocean. The four largest drainage systems—the Amazon, Río de la Plata (Paraguay, Paraná, and Uruguay rivers), Orinoco, and São Francisco—cover about two-thirds of the continent.

By far the largest system is formed by the Amazon River, which stretches some 4,000 miles (6,400 km) across equatorial South America. The volume of water it carries surpasses that of all other rivers, constituting one-fifth of the total flowing fresh water of the world. About 6,350,000 cubic feet (179,800 cubic metres) of water per second is emptied into the Atlantic by the Amazon, which is more than 10 times the outflow of the Mississippi River. The Amazon drains some 2,722,000 square miles (7,050,000 square km)—about two-fifths of South America—and has more than 1,000 tributaries, several of which are more than 1,000 miles (1,600 km) long. Rising in the central Peruvian Andes, it is named the Marañón in its upper course; after being joined by several rivers—including the Ucayali River, from which the Amazon’s length traditionally is measured—it escapes from the Andes through narrow canyons (pongos). If measured from the Marañón-Ucayali confluence, the Amazon is second in length only to the Nile. However, more recent measurements have claimed that the Amazon’s source is farther into the Andes, suggesting that the Amazon is the world’s longest river. Near Manaus, it is joined by the Negro River, which drains much of northern Brazil. The Amazon, then at full strength, winds through the low plains to pass between the Guiana Highlands and Brazilian Highlands before emptying into the Atlantic.

Negro River in the Amazon rain forest, northern Brazil.Union Press/Bruce Coleman, Inc., New York

The second most important drainage system, estimated to cover some 1.2 million square miles (3.2 million square km), is formed by the Paraguay, Paraná, and Uruguay rivers. Those rivers empty into the Río de la Plata, which actually is an estuary and not a river. About 2,800,000 cubic feet (79,300 cubic metres) of water per second discharge from the common mouth of those rivers, an outflow second only to that of the Amazon. The Paraguay River, with a length of 1,584 miles (2,550 km), rises in the Bolivian hills and empties into the Paraná River. The Paraguay is a river of the plains, flowing across a wide stretch of marshes (the Pantanal) in its middle course; its lower course, however, is drier. The Paraná has a total length of 3,032 miles (4,880 km); its upper course (generally called the Alto Paraná) flows mainly across the eastern high plateaus before its confluence with the Paraguay, after which the river flows through a broad floodplain before emptying into the Río de la Plata. The Uruguay River, at 990 miles (1,593-km), is the shortest of the three; it flows east of the Paraná before discharging into the Paraná delta near Buenos Aires.

The Orinoco River basin is the continent’s third largest drainage system, covering about 366,000 square miles (948,000 square km). With a length of some 1,700 miles (2,740 km), the river first flows west and then north, plunging down a series of steep slopes. It then flows northeast and east along the edge of the Llanos, a flat plain that stretches westward to the Andes. Near the ocean, the Orinoco divides into a series of distributaries to form its delta. A unique feature of the upper Orinoco River is Casiquiare, a navigable waterway that allows water to flow from the Orinoco to the Amazon system, as well as in the reverse direction during high tide in the Amazon.

The basin of the São Francisco River, encompassing some 244,000 square miles (632,000 square km), is South America’s fourth largest drainage system. The river, which flows entirely within Brazil, has a total length of 1,811 miles (2,914 km). It rises in the state of Minas Gerais and flows northward for 1,000 miles (1,600 km) before curving eastward to the Atlantic. The São Francisco has been an important artery of communication since colonial times and is the location of several large hydroelectric projects; many irrigated fields are found around the São Francisco reservoir.

The remainder of the continent’s Atlantic-flowing rivers are of much less importance. Among the largest are the Magdalena in Colombia (navigable in its lower section) and the Essequibo, Maroni, and Oyapock in the Guianas.

Drainage to the Pacific is different because of the close proximity of the Andes to the Pacific coast and the scarcity of rainfall from southern Ecuador to central Chile. Consequently, the rivers are short, and few carry any large quantity of water. The major rivers are the Guayas in Ecuador, on which the port of Guayaquil is located, and the Santa in Peru. Some torrents have had great importance since early times, when good water management facilitated the development of ancient civilizations. In central Chile the valleys of the Aconcagua, Maule, and Biobío rivers have remained fertile agricultural regions.